History+Conflicts

European Rivalry After Christopher had made his discoveries of the Americasin 1492, many European coutries frantically rushed to claim the land. Once Portugal had settled Brazil, France soon followed and started trying to colonize the land. Because of the dangers implicit in the French depredations along the Brazilian coast, King John revoked most of the powers held by the //donatarios// and placed Brazil under the rule of a governor-general. The first governor-general, Thomé de Souza, arrived in Brazil in 1549, organized a central government, with the newly founded city of Salvador, or Bahia, as his capital, instituted comprehensive administrative and judicial reforms, and established a coastal defense system. Large numbers of slaves were brought into the region from Africa to overcome the shortage of laborers. São Paulo, in the south, was founded in 1554. In 1555 the French founded a colony on the shores of Rio de Janeiro Bay. The Portuguese destroyed the French colony in 1560, and in 1567 they established on its site the city of Rio de Janeiro. Philip II of Spain inherited the Portuguese crown in 1580. The period of Spanish rule was marked by frequent aggressions against Brazil by the English and Dutch, the traditional enemies of Spain. A Dutch fleet seized Bahia in 1624, but the city was recaptured by a combined force of Spaniards, Portuguese, and Native Americans the following year. The Dutch attacked again in 1630, and an expedition sponsored by the Dutch West India Company captured Pernambuco (now Recife) and Olinda. Most of the territory between Maranhão Island and the lower course of the São Francisco River fell to the Dutch in subsequent operations. Under the able governorship of Count Joan Mauritz van Nassau-Siegen, the Dutch-occupied part of Brazil prospered for several years. Nassau-Siegen resigned in 1644, however, in protest against the exploitative policies of the Dutch West India Company. Shortly after his departure the Portuguese colonists, with support from their mother country, rose in rebellion against Dutch rule. The Dutch capitulated in 1654, after nearly a decade of struggle, and in 1661 renounced by treaty their claims to Brazilian territory.

Platine War

The Platine War was a war fought mainly between Brazil's empire and Argentina who were both seeking domination and influence throughout South America. Brazil allied with Uruguay and the Argentine provinces of Entre Rios and Corrientes. The war was part of a long-running contest between Argentina and Brazil for influence over Uruguay and Paraguay, and hegemony over the regions bordering the Rio de la Plata (River Plate). The conflict took place in Uruguay, on the Río de la Plata and in the northeast of Argentina (the Platine region). In 1850, the Platine region was politically unstable. The governor of Buenos Aires, Juan Manuel de Rosas, had used his position to gain dictatorial control over the other Argentine provinces. Though he dominated Argentina, a series of regional rebellions plagued Rosas' rule. Uruguay had been involved in civil war ever since gaining its independence from Brazil in 1828. Rosas saw Uruguay as being within Argentina's sphere of influence. Rosas also desired to extend Argentine borders to encompass the area occupied by the old Spanish Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata. This would mean taking control over Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. This objective also threatened Brazilian interests and sovereignty as the Viceroyalty had also included territories which had since been assimilated into Brazil's province of Rio Grande do Sul. The Brazilian government began actively pursuing ways to eliminate this threat. Brazil allied with the Argentine breakaway provinces of Corrientes and Entre Rios (led by Justo Jose de Urquiza) in opposition to Rosas. They were joined by the anti- Rosas faction in Uruguay, and secured the northern flank by signing defensive alliances with Paraguay and Bolivia. Faced with an offensive alliance against the Argentine Confederation. Rosas declared war on Brazil. Allied forces then advanced into Uruguayan territory, defeating the Rosas aligned faction led by Manuel Oribe.The allied army was then split, with the main arm advancing by land into Argentine territory to engage Rosas's main defences and the other launching a seaborne assault directed at the Argentine capital. The Platine War ended in 1852 with the allied victory at the Battle of Caseros. This established Brazilian hegemony over much of South America, and further ushered in a period of economic and political stability in the Empire of Brazil itself. With Rosas gone, Argentina began a process which would result in a more unified state. However, the end of the war did not completely resolve other issues within the Platine region. There was continued turmoil during subsequent years; Two more major international wars followed during the next two decades, sparked by territorial ambitions and conflicts over influence.

Triple Alliance War

Paraguay had been involved in boundary and tariff disputes with its more powerful neighbours, Argentina and Brazil, for years. The Uruguayans had also struggled to achieve and maintain their independence from those same powers, especially from Argentina. In 1864 Brazil helped the leader of Uruguay’s Colorado Party to oust his Blanco Party opponent, whereupon the dictator of Paraguay, Francisco Solano López, believing that the regional balance of power was threatened, went to war with Brazil. Bartolomé Mitre, president of Argentina, then organized an alliance with Brazil and Colorado-controlled Uruguay (the Triple Alliance), and together they declared war on Paraguay on May 1, 1865. López’s action—following his buildup of a 50,000-man army, then the strongest in Latin America—was viewed by many as aggression. At the opening of the war, in 1865, Paraguayan forces advanced northward into the Brazilian province of Mato Grosso and southward into the province of Rio Grande do Sul. Logistical problems and the buildup of the allied troop strength, which soon outnumbered Paraguay’s 10 to 1, then forced the Paraguayans to withdraw behind their frontiers. In June 1865 Brazilian naval forces defeated a Paraguayan army on the Paraná River at Riachuelo, near the Argentine city of Corrientes; by January 1866 the allies had blockaded the rivers leading to Paraguay. In April Mitre led an allied invading force into southwestern Paraguay but was prevented from advancing for two years. Fierce battles were fought including; the most notable, won by the Paraguayans at Curupayty in September 1866. Both sides suffered heavy losses in the campaign. In January 1868 Mitre was replaced as commander in chief by the Brazilian marquês (later duque) de Caxias. In February Brazilian armored vessels broke through Paraguayan defenses at the river fortress of Humaitá. In the Campaign of Lomas Valentinas in December, the Paraguayan army was annihilated. López fled northward and carried on a guerrilla war until he was killed on March 1, 1870. The Paraguayan people had been fanatically committed to López and the war effort, and as a result they fought to the point of dissolution. The war left Paraguay utterly in ruins; its prewar population of approximately 525,000 was reduced to about 221,000 in 1871, of which only about 28,000 were men. During the war the Paraguayans suffered not only from the enemy but also from malnutrition, disease, and the domination of López, who tortured and killed countless numbers. Argentina and Brazil annexed about 55,000 square miles (140,000 square km) of Paraguayan territory; Brazil enlarged its Mato Grosso province from the new territory. They both demanded a large indemnity (which was never paid) and occupied Paraguay until 1876. Meanwhile, the Colorados had gained control of Uruguay, and they retained that control until 1958.